Automatic ink-ribbon-reversing mechanism.



APPLICATION FILED 15150.4, 1906.

Patentd June 24,1913.

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E WW a .G. J. BARRETT. AUTOMATIC INK RIBBON REVERSING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.4, 1906.

Patented June 24, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES.

-yUi/VTQR; g? A at r M pnrrnn s'rATns GLENN J. BARRETT, 0F SYRACUSE,

PATENT OFFICE.

NET/V YORK, ASSIGNOR TO BURROUG-HS ADbING MACHINE COMPANY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

AUTOMATIC INK-RIBBON-REVERSING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 24, 1913.

Application filed December 4, 1806. Serial No. 346,280.

The principal object of the present invcn- I tion is to 'rehevethe ribbon of any work 111 the actual shifting or reversing of the driving mechanism, its duty in this connection being merely to set certain devices which will then be actuated from the same source of power which is drawn upon to feed the ribbon.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple and durable ribbon reversing construction not likely to become disordered from constant use..

lVith these objects in view, the invention consists in .certain novel features of con structions and combinations of parts the essential elements of which are recited in the appended claims and a preferred form of embodiment of which is described in detail hereinafter and fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification.

Of said drawings, Figure 1 represents in side elevation part of a recording machine inwhich the intention is embodied; Fig. 2 represents in rear elevation the ribbon mechanism with part of the driving connections; Fig. 3 represents a top plan View of the same; Fig. 4 represents in rear elevation some of the parts seen in Fig. 3, as they would appear in the act of reversing the ribbon feed; Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are diagrammatic views illustrating diiierent relative positions of parts under diiferent conditions.

For the purposes of illustration, the invention is shown embodied in a machine for recording items as is done in the well known adding machine. However, it is of course to be understood that the ribbon reversing mechanism of the present invention is not confined to use in this type of machine, but may be employed in any machine where an ink ribbon is used from type.

The reference numerals 2 the spools upon which the ribbon 4 is ,carried and the numeral 5 designates suitable guides over which the ribbon passes so as for taking impressions and 3 designate.

and the platen 7. These spools are mounted on spindles 8 andl) suitably journaled in brackets 10 of an upright frame 11. Each spool carries a bevel gear 12, and a horizontal shaft 13, extending across the frame 11 and mounted to both rotate and slide therein, carries similar bevel gears 1% and 15.. By moving said shaft lengthwise one or the other of said bevel gears thereon may be caused to mesh with one or the other of the spool gears. l t will be seen that by turning this shaft with the gears in mesh one of the spools will be rotated and that the direction of rotation of this spool will be the rei 'cnse of that of the other spool when the shaft .is shifted into gear with that other spool. The shaft carries a ratchet wheel 16 which is engaged by a long pawl 17 coupled to one end of a bell crank lever 18 the other end of which is connected to a link 19, coupled in turn to a rocking plate 20 of the adding machine. A link 21 connects another branch of this rocking plate with a short arm secured to a rock shaft 23. Another and longer arm' 24 secured to this same rock shaft carries a roller occupying a cam slot 26 in a plate 2-7 secured to a second rock shaft 28. This last named rock link 30 with a crank arm 31 on a third rock shaft. 32, which carries an operating handle 33. It is not of course essential that the pawl 17 shall be actuated through such an extended series of operating connections. They simply happen to be those utilized in an embodiment of the present invention in a certain type of recording machine. Reciprocations of the operating handle 33, which cause operations of various parts of such a machine also operate to produce the desired reciprocations of the pawl 17, thus turning the shaft 13 and step by step and producingthe; requisite. feed of the inking ribbon. i

The brackets,llQ support certain shifting devices, each ofawhich comprises a horizontal spindle 36, an arm 37 at the forward end thereof having a rearwardly project lug end of said spindle. The projecting pins as l to properly inter-pose it between the typed shafthas a crank arm 29 connected by a pin 3S, and a weighted arm 39 at. the rear 1 of these shifting devices extcnd hchim e ribbon and the latter can, 'a'rits on books 40 adapted to engage nd plus. The arms 37 ot the sllllUnQ' (lcvlc have dealso normally lie against the sides of the pending extensions 41, which confront l shoulders 42 respectively on the shaft 13,- these shoulders being preferably formed by the hubs f the bevel gears 14 and 15. The depending weighted arms 39 lie normally against the sides of the frame 11, holding the said extensions 41 away from the said shoulders 42 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. Said Weighted arms are preferably' formed with feet 43 to abut the sides of the frame 11 and they are also formed at their lower ends with rearwardly projecting lugs a 44' beveled on their inner sides as shown more clearly in Figs -7. The fingers frame 11, as shown in Fig. 3. The rocking plate is secured to a cross shaft 45 journaled in the frame 11 and this shaft carries a pair of arms 46 and 47 the former of which may be and is here shown as integral with said rocking plate. These '--arms are oppositely bent at their upper -aendsto form outwardly projecting flanges '48 as shown in Fig. 3 and these flanges have beveled forward edges as shown at 49 for cooperation with the beveled lugs 44. Normally, the arms 46 and 47 lie on the outer sides of said lugs as shown in Figs. v2 and 5 and the vibrations of said arms, due to the rocking of the plate 20 in the operations of the machine, have no elfect upon the shifting devices of which said lugs form a part.

In operation when the ribbon is about unwound from one of the spools, say for example the left hand spool in Fig. 3, the hook at this end of the ribbon engages the lug 38 of the shifting device and rocks '.the latter sufiiciently to throw the arm 41 4 against the shoulder 42 at the end .of the shaft'where the gears are out of mesh. This movement of the shifting device carries the lug 44 into the path of the beveled edge 49 of the flange 48 on the arm 46, see Fig. 6. The ensuing vibration of said arm 46 will therefore cause the shifting device to be swung farther to the left (as the parts are viewed in 'Fig. 3) by reason of said beveled edge 49, acting against the beveled side of the lug 44 (see Fig. 4). This further movement of the shifting device causes the arm 41 to shift the shaft 18 to the left and engage the bevel gear 14 with the similargear of the left hand ribbon spool, and at the same time disengage the bevel gear 15 from the similargear of the right hand ribbon spool. Consequently, in the continued step by step rotation of the shaft 13 the direct-ion of movement of the ribbon will be reversed, the same being wound upon the spool 9. and unwound from the spool 3. When the flange 48 has passed by the lug 44, the shifting device having done its work may resume its normal position in the man- 55 1I1er illustrated in Fig. 6.

It will be seen that the above described construction is well adapted to accomplish the objects primarily stated. No strain is brought upon the ribbon to perform any of the actual work of reversing the feed. The

ribbon simply sets a shifting device in position to be acted upon by operating connections from the source of power. Thus any objection ,to utilizing the draft of the ribbon for feed reversing purposes is obviated. The simplicity of the construction and the unlikelihood of its becoming disordered through. constant use will be apparent. While this particular construction thus fully attains the objects in view, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the details thereof but may be embodied in other forms differing more or less therefrom.

Means are preferably employed to yieldingly hold the gearing in its two adjustments, said means comprising encircling grooves 13* in the shaft 13 and a springother of said grooves accordingto the longitudinal position of the shaft.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with the ribbon spools pressed pin 13 for engaging one or the and ribbon, of rotary driving mechanism shiftable to alternately turn the spools in opposite directions, ratchet means for operating said driving mechanism, a pair of devices for shifting the driving mechanism in opposite directions each such device'being ribbon actuated and also directly operated by the ratchet means for operating 1 the driving mechanism.

2. The combination with the ribbon spools and ribbon, of rotary driving mechanism shiftable to alternately turn the spools in opposite directions, ratchet means for operating. said driving mechanism shifting means for the driving mechanism having a plurality of distinct movements including an initial movement derived from the traverse of the ribbon and a succeeding movement derived from the ratchet means for operating the driving mechanism.

3. The combination with the ribbon spools and ribbon, of rotary driving mechanism to alternately turn the spools in opposite directions, reciprocating ratchet means for operating said driving mechanism, means for shifting the driving mechanism in opposite directions having a plurality of movements including an initial actuation derived from the traverse of the ribbon and a supplement-a1 actuation by said ratchet means.

4. The combination with the ribbon spools and ribbon; of driving mechanism shiftable to alternately turn the spools in opposite directions, means for operating said driving mechanism, and devices set. by movement derived from the ribbon and further actusetting, by said operating means to shift the driving mechanisl 5. The combination with the ribbon spools and ribbon, of driving mechanism shift-able to alternately turn the spools in opposite directions, means for operating said driving mechanism, devices for shifting the latter normally held to inoperative position and movable by the ribbon to a limited extent without affecting the driving mechanism, and means for further actuating said shifting devices in the same direction by the operating means to eflect the shift.

6. The combination with the ribbon spools and ribbon, of drivingmechanism shiftable to alternately turn the spools in opposite directions, means for operating said driving" mechanism, devices for shifting the latter yieldingly held to inoperative position and movable by the ribbon to a limited extent without affecting the. driving mechanism, and means for further actuating saidshifting devices in the same direction by the operating means to effect the shift.

7. The combination with the ribbon and ribbon spools, of a longitudinallymovable shaft geared at opposite ends to said spools respectively for alternate driving connection therewith, operatingmeans for turning the shaft to wind the ribbon on one or the other of the spools, and shifters for said shaft, ribbon actuated but otherwise disconnected from the spools, said shifters alternately actuated by said operating means and moving independently of each other.

8. The combination with the ribbon and ribbon spools, of a longitudinally movable shaft geared at opposite ends to said spools respectively for alternate driving connection therewith, operating means for turning the shaft to Wl'ld the ribbon on one or the other of the spools, shifters for said shaft normally held to inoperative position and movable by the ribbon to a limited extent without affecting the shaft, and means for further actuating said shifters in the same direction by the said operating means.

9. The combination with the ribbon and ribbon spools, of a longitudinally movable shaft gearedat opposite ends to said spools respectively for alternate driving connection therewith, operatin means for turning the shaft to wind the ri bon on one or the other of the spools, shifters for said shaft yieldingly held to inoperative position and movable by the ribbon to a limited extent with out affecting the shaft, and means for further actuating said shifters in the same direction by the said operating means.

10. The combination with the ribbon and ribbon spools, of a longitudinally movable shaft geared at opposite ends to said spools respectively for alternate driving connection therewith, shifters for said shaft normally held to inoperative position, means for displacing said-shifters the ribbon, andv tionsnormally held to inoperative position,

means carried by the ribbon for moving said shifters from normalpositlon, and actuating means for acting upon either shifter when so displaced by the ribbon means to cause it to move farther in the tion and thereby shift the shaft. 12. The combination with the ribbon and ribbon spools, of a longitudinally movable shaft geared at opposite ends to said spools respectively for 'alternate driving connecsame direc tion therewith, shifters for said shaft normally held to inoperative position, means for displacing said shifters by the ribbon, and a vibrating actuator acting upon either of said shifters when so displaced by the ribbon means to cause it to shift the shaft.

13. The combination with the ribbon and ribbon spools, of a longitudinally movable shaft geared at opposite ends to said spools respectively for alternate driving connection therewith, pivoted shifters for engag-- ing said shaft to move it in opposite directio-ns normally held to inoperative position, means carried by the ribbon for moving saidshifters from normal position, and a vibrating actuator act-ing upon either of said shifters when so displaced by the ribbon means to cause it to shift the shaft.

14. The combination with the ribbon spools and the ribbon having catches near its ends, of a longitudinally movable shaft geared at opposite ends to said spools respectively for alternately driving the-same, pivoted shifters having arms acted upon by said ribbon-catches and arms to act against shoulders of the shaft and also arms by which to complete shaft-shifting movement, and a vibrating actuator normally disengaged from said last named arms of the shifters but adapted to act upon either of the same when displaced by a ribbon catch, substantially as and for the purpose described.

15. The combination with' the ribbon spools. and the ribbon having catches near its ends; of a longitudinally-movable shaft geared at opposite ends to said spools re-.

spectively for alternately driving the same, pivoted shifters having arms acted upon by said ribbon-catches and arms to act against shoulders of the shaft and also weighted arms by which to complete shaftshiftingsmovements, and a vibrating actuator normally disengaged from said last named arms ofthe shifters but adapted to act upon the same when displaced by a ribbon catch, substantially as and for the purpose described.

16. The combination with the ribbon spools and the ribbon having catches near its ends, of a longitudinally movable shaftgeared at opposite ends to said spools re spectively for alternately driving the same, pivoted shifters having arms acted upon by said ribbon-catches and arms to act against shoulders of the shaft and also arms with beveled ends by which to complete shaftshifting movements, and a vibrating actuator normally disengaged from said last named arms of the shifters but adapted to act upon the beveled end of either when displaced by a ribbon catch, substantially as and for the purpose described.

17. The combination with the ribbon spools andthe ribbon having catches. near its ends, of a longitudinally movable shaft geared at opposite ends to said spools re spectively for alternately driving the same,

,pivoted shifters having arms acted upon by said ribbon-catchers and arms to act against shoulders of the shaft and also arms by which to complete shaft-shifting move ments, and a vibrating actuator normally disengaged from said last named arms of the shifters but having beveled portions adapted to act upon the same when displaced by the ribbon catches, substantially as and for the purpose described.

18. The combination with the ribbon spools and the ribbon having catches near its ends, of a longitudinally movable shaft geared at opposite ends to said spools respectively for alternately driving the same, pivoted shifters having arms acted upon by said ribbon-catches and arms to act against shoulders of the shaft and also arms with beveled ends by which to complete shaftshifting movements, and a vibrating actuator normally disengaged from said last named arms of the shifters, but having beveled projections to coact with the beveled ends of said arms when the shifters are displaced by the ribbon catches, substantially as and for the purpose described.

19. The combination with the ribbon spools, the ribbon and a longitudinally movable shaft arranged to be shifted alternately into engagement with the respective ribbon spool mechanisms, a pair of pivoted dogs arranged to engage the longitudinally movable shaft near opposite ends thereof to shift it alternately in opposite directions, means adapted to be operated by the traverse of the ribbon for initiating the movement of each dog in a direction to shift the shaft, a reciprocating means for rotating the shaft adapted to consummate the movement initiated by the ribbon traverse.

GLENN .J. BARRETT.

W'itnesses:

GEO. M. BLOWERS, Lmwoon A. MURRAY.

Copies of this, patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

